Geographic information systems provide for the archiving, retrieving, and manipulating of data that has been stored and indexed according to geographic coordinates associated with such data. A geographic information system generally includes a variety of data types, including imagery, maps, tables, vector data (e.g. vector representations of roads, parcels, buildings, etc.) and other data. Improvements in computer processing power and broadband technology have led to the development of interactive geographic information systems that allow for the navigation and display of geographic imagery. For example, a user of an interactive geographic information system can input or request a geographic area of interest and, in response, the geographic information system can present geographic imagery associated with such geographic area of interest within a user interface.
Some interactive geographic information systems provide navigation controls within the user interface for navigating cities, neighborhoods, geographic areas and other terrain in two or three dimensions. The navigation controls can enable users to tilt, pan, rotate, zoom, and activate views of terrain, buildings, and other objects from different perspectives. An example of an interactive geographic information system for navigating geographic imagery is the Google Earth™ virtual globe application developed by Google Inc. Such interactive geographic information systems can be highly accessible sources of information concerning the physical or geographic attributes of a certain geographic area of interest.
However, geographic information systems often fail to provide content concerning real-world events occurring within the geographic areas represented within the geographic information system. For example, when an event happens in the real-world, a user often employs a geographic information system to learn about or explore the geographic area in which the real-world event has occurred or will occur. In this way, the user is placing an implicit value on data associated with such geographic area of interest. However, geographic information systems often do not provide location-specific content for the user to further explore or investigate and, thus, do not fully satisfy the user's underlying desire for information.
Even in geographic information systems that do provide content concerning the geographic areas represented within the geographic information system, problems arise due to the sheer volume of content available for inclusion within the geographic information system. Including all available items of content would overwhelm the user and inhibit use of the geographic information system to obtain geographic imagery. More particularly, in the instance in which a user is investigating a geographic area in response to a real-world event, certain items of content can more closely relate to the real-world event being investigated. Therefore, systems and methods for identifying increased user interest in a geographic area and selecting and promoting content associated with such geographic area within a geographic information system are desirable.